In previous postings, I’ve mentioned employee retention and morale. Let’s take a look at how the data plotted for “likely financial performance.” For survey participants who indicated that their organization’s future financial performance was likely to exceed their corporate cost of capital (red line in the Figure below), the BTO scores were significantly better. A similar pattern emerged for “recent financial performance.”

Simply put, the survey’s results are a “wake up call” to organization leaders regarding the importance of continual diagnosis and attention to core principles. In the current, dynamic business environment, it is easy to become consumed with daily emergencies and managing complexity. In fact, as the survey’s results suggest, most organizations are among the “walking wounded” long before their problems manifest themselves in their financial statements.

That is why senior leadership of organizations must set aside time to focus on periodic and comprehensive health checkups for their organizations, and pay attention to core principles on an ongoing basis.

What exactly are the nine “core principles” I refer to? My next posting will cover that.

September 4, 2012

About the Author

Patrick Burnson, Executive Editor

Patrick Burnson is executive editor for Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management Review magazines and web sites. Patrick is a widely-published writer and editor who has spent most of his career covering international trade, global logistics, and supply chain management. He lives and works in San Francisco, providing readers with a Pacific Rim perspective on industry trends and forecasts. You can reach him directly at [email protected]

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